The next morning, before dawn, Shen En began to read the “Beginner’s Guide to Magic” that Horn had given him at home, to further understand how to identify runes and spells.
Shen En had spent the whole night thinking about the spring water in the attic and finally understood it.
That was the Dragon God’s ability—“Cosmic Reconstruction.”
However, it was still incomplete, probably equivalent to a baby dragon’s undeveloped version.
“Magic Storage” and “Magic Vision” were also functions of this bracelet.
Before thoroughly understanding the Dragon God’s ability, he first needed to understand the magical composition of this world.
The book “Beginner’s Guide to Magic” stated that magic power is a “flowing energy” without any attributes, and all magic power originates from the human body and comes from the magic net.
Not so, not so.
Shen En, as the author, could confidently tell all the mages in the world—the human body does not actually collect magic power; rather, it is the magic codex within the human body that is at work.
The magic of this world is composed of three concepts.
First, magic power.
Second, the magic net.
Third, the magic codex.
Unfortunately, the mages of the world only knew two of these, not the third, and were completely ignorant of the magic codex.
In fact, the magic codex is the fundamental source that allows humans and all living beings to store magic power.
A being’s entire life, including its wisdom, its composition, and the magic it has used, is all contained within it.
The three most important essences of the magic codex are—carrier, rules, and soul.
【Carrier】
Similar to the “hardware” part of an object, it determines its physical form and structure.
For example, the carrier of a piece of wood determines that it is wood, not metal or stone.
【Rules】
Similar to “physical logic,” it determines how an object operates or interacts with other things.
For example, the rule of fire is to burn, and the rule of water is to flow.
【Soul】
Similar to “data” or “consciousness,” it records the object’s history, memories, and essence.
For example, the soul of a sword might record how many enemies it has slain.
......
In a word: if one can rewrite the magic codex, one can turn a leaf into gold.
This is precisely the heaven-defying aspect of the Dragon God’s “Cosmic Reconstruction”—it can permanently change an object’s nature and form!
The world believed that the Dragon God’s demise a thousand years ago was due to the Dragon race’s great wickedness, leading to a worldwide crusade against them.
Yes, but not entirely.
The most fundamental reason was that the Dragon God, as the most powerful existence in the world at that time, had already touched upon the magic codex.
Yes.
Even the Dragon God did not know of the magic codex’s existence, only believing that “Cosmic Reconstruction” was his innate talent.
The world at that time was already oppressed by the Dragon race.
If the Dragon God were to further glimpse this unknown forbidden level and truly ascend to the realm of “God,” then all living beings in the world would forever lose hope of rising up.
That is why the “Dragon Extinction War” occurred.
Imagine, if someone were to reveal the magic codex to the public, its impact would be enough to shake the entire world—all mages would pursue its mysteries at all costs, transforming all things in the world into nourishment for magic.
Emperor Iron Dome, who personally slew the Dragon God back then, had already vaguely sensed certain individuals’ covetousness towards the Dragon God’s research.
He resolutely chose to conceal the truth, burying this forbidden desire to reach the realm of “God” completely in the dust of history.
But now?
Now, this power, which Emperor Iron Dome spent his entire life concealing, seemed to have quietly fallen into Shen En’s hands.
Shen En’s heart was filled with mixed emotions, feeling both a bit helpless and secretly excited.
Of course.
While the Dragon God’s skill was heaven-defying, it also had to follow the principle of “equivalent exchange.”
For example, transforming a leaf into gold would require an extremely vast amount of magic power.
Roughly estimated, converting 1 kilogram of gold would consume magic equivalent to mining 10 tons of gold ore.
The spellcaster also needed to deeply understand the internal structure of both the transforming and transformed objects—to transform something into gold, one must understand the composition of gold, otherwise, the magic consumption would increase by hundreds of times, and forced transformation would be almost a fool’s dream!
That is why the Dragon God was also the most knowledgeable scholar in this world.
Direct transformation out of thin air?
That was the realm of God; even the Dragon God was powerless.
The reason Shen En was able to successfully transform wood and water last night was, firstly, because the bracelet stored Horn’s magic power, and secondly, the massive magic power contained within the bracelet itself happened to come in handy, leading to a lucky success through an unexpected turn of events.
Of course, the magic power inside the bracelet was completely drained as a result, and now even starting it was a problem.
Shen En read some more magic basics for a while, felt his eyes were truly tired, so he closed the book, woke up his one-year-old sister who was still asleep, held her hand, and went to the living room for breakfast.
His father was as hurried as ever.
The small territory had no court, and all judgments were handled by the lord.
Today, Old Ai had to deal with a particularly bizarre case, which he chattered about throughout breakfast.
It was said that yesterday a sow bit a baby to death, and the villagers angrily sued it in court, demanding it be hanged; according to imperial law, the defendant, whether human or animal, must be assigned a defense lawyer.
So Old Ai had to appoint a defense lawyer for a sow, and also had to dress the sow in human clothes before the trial began...
People in this world believed that animals could understand moral responsibility, and that crimes polluted the land, which had to be “purified” through trial.
Shen En was speechless.
Small places just had more bizarre things.
......
After breakfast, it was Seranya’s daily, unshakeable baking time.
First, according to business logic, if one wanted to dump the specialty frost sugar root, then it should be used as a raw material to first create a product worthy of universal praise.
Shen En first set his sights on the words “dessert.”
In Klaester Territory, or rather, the entire Empire.
“Desserts” were nothing more than kneading flour and water into a ball, adding some honey, and then throwing it into an oven to bake until it was hard, a kind of recreational food.
This stuff was very hard.
Much harder than a baguette, it was dry rations that could knock someone out.
Even so, it was still a rare luxury that only nobles dared to dream of, commoners couldn’t even touch it.
Commoners’ source of sweetness mainly relied on honey, because cane sugar had not yet been introduced; it would not be until the 15th century after Columbus discovered the New World that sugarcane flowed from America to Europe, so there was no cane sugar in this world yet.
Thinking of this, Shen En couldn’t help but chuckle.
The generic brand cookies that cost 9.9 in supermarkets in his previous life, no matter how bad they tasted, were a hundred times better than the honey biscuits in this world.
Yet here, honey biscuits were considered “delicacies,” and noble ladies even used them for recreation.
It showed the powerful influence of modern craftsmanship on all aspects of life.
He remembered historical books mentioning that cookies truly became popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, when Scots improved the recipe, using butter and sugar to create a crispy texture, which was the true prototype of modern cookies.
It was now Dragon Extinction Year 1409, which roughly corresponded to the mid-Middle Ages in Earth time, still very early before cookies appeared.
In other words, this “technology” he held was a unique leading advantage in this Different World.
......
So after two full months of preparation, Shen En could finally make his move.
The four main ingredients—butter, sugar, flour, and eggs—were all available.
The other three were easy to get, but only low-gluten flour would work. He painstakingly searched and finally found that a farmer’s wheat variety in the territory was softer, barely meeting the standard. He insisted to his mother that this flour was good and bought it.
“Mama! This time I want to make the cookies you taught me last time!”
“Alright, go ahead.”
Seranya focused on kneading her dough, and doting on her son, she just smiled at Shen En, letting him do whatever he wanted with the raw materials in the house.
So, Shen En inadvertently softened the butter, and inadvertently poured the frost sugar root syrup into the softened butter.
He also inadvertently stirred it evenly with a wooden spoon, added low-gluten flour, and kneaded it into a dough.
There were also some raisins at home, which Shen En also inadvertently added.
Finally, after inadvertently waiting for it to be shaped, he sliced it and placed it in the oven to bake until golden and crispy.
Xiao Anni, who had been helping nearby, saw Shen En making a large pile of cookies to play with, and fearing he would waste them, she advised:
“Young Master, why don’t you make just a little bit for the first time?”
Shen En thought about it and felt it made sense.
He could easily control an electric oven, but with this earthen oven, the heat control was purely guesswork, and he had no confidence at all.
So, to be safe, he decided to reduce the amount of test product a little.
Shen En estimated the time, and as soon as it was up, he quickly called his mother to use a wooden shovel to scoop the small dough cakes out of the oven.
......
At this time, Seranya still didn’t know her son had changed her recipe; she just felt that the cookies her son made were a bit strange.
“Xiao En, your cookies, are they burnt?”
Shen En’s face was full of black lines; indeed, they were burnt. Not only did they look bad, but they were also completely black.
They looked inedible at first glance.
And he was still thinking of earning silver coins with this!
Alas.
Sure enough, the gap between ideals and reality was just this big.
Seeing her son’s disappointed little expression, Seranya smiled gently, then patted his head, comforting him: “It’s alright.”
However, adhering to the principle of “no matter how bad my son makes it, I must taste it,” she picked a slightly better cookie and put it in her mouth.
Shen En had given up hope on this first trial product.
But unexpectedly, as Seranya ate, her expression subtly changed a little.
She quickly lowered her head and asked: “Xiao En, what did you add to the cookies?”
Hmm?
Did it actually work?
Shen En also ate a piece of his own cookie, and like Xiao Anni, he was so bitter he stuck out his tongue.
This was the result of burnt sugar.
“The cookies are burnt! Mama! They taste all bitter!”
“That’s not the point.”
Perhaps Seranya felt Shen En didn’t understand baking, so she turned and had Xiao Anni try another piece.
Seranya asked: “How is it?”
Xiao Anni grimaced from the bitterness, but still carefully considered it, “Young Master, this… it’s a bit bitter, but… but underneath it seems a little sweet, and there’s a fragrance that’s different from ordinary honey and frost sugar root cookies.”
“Yes,” Seranya quickly pressed, “Can you tell what it is?”
“It’s like… a milky scent?”
“It is a milky scent, the taste of butter.”
Seranya grasped the key point, then lowered her head and asked Shen En: “Xiao En, did you add some butter just now?”
Shen En figured his mother truly was a baking master; she could taste the milky scent even in something burnt to a crisp.
So he nodded.
Seranya then became interested: “Xiao En, how about you show Mama how you just played with… no, how you made the cookies again?”
Shen En obediently nodded, following the same procedure.
The core reason why butter cookies are more refined and delicious than these medieval desserts lies in butter and sugar.
Butter, there’s not much to say about it; its production cost is far higher than honey or fruit juice, and it produces a caramelized aroma when baked, which ordinary milk dregs cannot compare to.
As for sugar, there was no cane sugar, so Shen En used the specialty from around Klaester Territory—frost sugar root—as a substitute.
Although honey has high sweetness (fructose content is about 40%), its taste is strong and monotonous, easily masking other flavors. frost sugar root syrup, after boiling, has a milder sweetness and a hint of caramel, and although its own taste is not great, it has a stronger layered feel when combined with butter.
Honey biscuits are cloyingly sweet, with the mouth full of honey flavor, and they stick to the teeth after eating.
And frost sugar root syrup? It’s sweet but not cloying.
With the combination of these two elements, plus the soft flour Shen En specifically chose, the cookies were prevented from being as hard as stone.
After watching Shen En’s steps, Seranya immediately started to prepare her own batch.
......
It was either Shen En was too unskilled, or his mother’s baking technique was too amazing.
The first time she tried baking butter cookies, it was a success!
Seranya skillfully used a wooden shovel to pull out the stone slab, and a scent of milk mixed with caramel wafted to her nose.
This time, the cookies weren’t burnt.
The surface was golden brown and slightly charred, the edges were crispy, and the middle was still a bit soft and chewy.
Although the appearance was a bit ugly, it was edible.
Seranya tried a piece first, savoring it slowly.
His mother was a noble lady from the Kingdom, so she probably ate a lot of good things before.
Therefore, his mother’s opinion was the opinion of the noble ladies in this world, and it was very important.
“Delicious!” Seranya praised sincerely, and Shen En breathed a sigh of relief.
She quickly gave Xiao Anni a piece to try as well.
Xiao Anni rarely got to eat any sweets on a daily basis, so she praised this even more profusely.
She said it was several times better than the best dessert she had ever eaten in Golden Iris City.
Shen En was given a piece by his mother and put it into his mouth.
Not bad.
Although it still couldn’t compare to the powerful details brought by later craftsmanship, it was fragrant and crispy in the mouth.
The sweetness was just right, and the fruity taste of raisins also dotted it.
“It really is delicious, so crispy and soft, even more fragrant than cake.”
The more Seranya ate, the more she felt this dessert was to her taste.
She had never eaten such soft and fluffy cookies before.
They were even softer than palace cakes.
“Xiao En, your method is wonderful… truly wonderful! How did Mama never think of using butter this way before. Look, these cookies aren’t hard or greasy, and they have a fragrance, without any messy spice flavors, a very pure taste. I knew your black cookies had a fragrant base, it must have been the butter at work, right?”
“......”
Shen En thought, Mama, are you making fun of me?
“Madam, is this considered a new cookie invented by Young Master?” Xiao Anni asked.
“Of course!”
“Then has anyone in the imperial capital made similar cookies?”
This...
Seranya really didn’t know.
News was not well-developed in this world, so there was no way.
However, Shen En knew clearly that other places in the Empire did not have the conditions to make butter cookies.
Firstly, animal husbandry had to be developed.
Secondly, there had to be syrup that could replace cane sugar.
And then, there also had to be softer wheat varieties.
Klaester Territory being able to make butter cookies was truly a stroke of luck, having the right timing, location, and people.
And even with the ingredients, if his mother hadn’t drawn a golden legendary card directly, Shen En felt he would definitely have to research for another one or two years.
Speaking of which, even replicating a cookie was so difficult, it would probably be even harder to implement land reform in the territory in the future...
Shen En looked up: “Mama! Teacher Horn is from the imperial capital, we can ask him!”
“Right. But you have to take it to your father to taste first, and then give some to your sister to see if she likes it.”
Seranya smiled at Shen En again: “Xiao En, I don’t know if others can make this kind of cookie, but there’s definitely no dessert this delicious in the East End. Since you’ve concocted it, why don’t you give it a name?”
“A name…?” Shen En pretended to be confused.
“Just like you named Ya Yi, give the cookies a name too.”
Although it was a different world, Shen En had no intention of plagiarism.
So he simply and directly translated “butter cookies”—Butter Cookies.
“Cookies?” Xiao Anni kept smiling, “I didn’t expect the name Young Master chose to be so nice!”
Seranya was very pleased to hear others praise her son: “Xiao En usually reads a lot!”
Although the Butter Cookies were made.
But because Seranya and Xiao Anni were both eating this dessert for the first time, in no time, a plate of cookies was completely devoured by the two of them.
Poor little Ya Yi didn’t even get a chance to eat a single piece!
Seranya said: “It’s alright, we can just make more.”
But no matter what, she couldn’t replicate the taste of her first attempt.
Now this was awkward.
Seranya laughed: “It’s alright, just try a few more times.”
Although it was ten thousand times better than honey biscuits, it still didn’t have that taste of the first batch.
So Seranya grabbed Shen En and Xiao Anni again, boiling syrup, buying flour, beating eggs, and re-replicating in the back kitchen for a whole week, finally getting close to the taste of the first batch...
It proved that this fire-baked earthen oven was extremely unstable.